EDITORIAL : THE HINDU, INDIA

Assam’s sorrow

Often enough in much of Assam, all that it takes to set alight the sub-surface nodes of volatility is a mere spark. Now, an ethnic-communal spectre looms over the western parts of the State once again. Confronting each other are violent elements among the Bodos and Muslims. Gang violence that started in Kokrajhar spread to more districts including Chirang, Dhubri and Bongaigaon, claiming some 40 lives. The rioting and torching has triggered an exodus. Over 1,70,000 people belonging to both the affected communities, as well as others, in the four districts have taken shelter in relief camps. The trigger was the firing on two student leaders of the All Bodoland Minority Students’ Union and the All Assam Minority Students’ Union in Kokrajhar. Thereupon, four former Bodo Liberation Tigers cadres were killed; that led to further attacks and counter-attacks. With the Bodos’ nationalistic assertion forming the historical backdrop to the tensions, aggressive elements from the two communities have clashed sporadically. The confrontation has been labelled ‘ethnic,’ but economic and even educational anxieties are as much at work as the desire to preserve socio-cultural and ethnic identities. Insecurities relating to land, forest rights and a shrinking job market have created a combustible mix.

The immediate task is to contain the violence and tackle the serious humanitarian crisis. Those who have had to abandon home and hearth should be enabled to return. Transport links with the rest of the country need to be restored; thousands of passengers remain stranded in railway and bus stations. Talks between the adversary organisations should be quickly facilitated. The administration failed to react quickly after the first signs of trouble on July 19. Considering that there was a build-up of tensions over the past few months, vulnerable areas ought to have been identified and adequate forces deployed. It has been pointed out that in many of the places overrun by violence, the security forces were not visible at all. The deployment of the Army seems to have come too late in the day. The mapping of stress-spots on the basis of adequate intelligence inputs should be a priority at least from now. The long-term goal, obviously, is to re-envision Assam as a place where ascriptive identities do not disrupt civic relationships. The state needs to keep working on achieving the right balance of development activity. The key to this will be restoration of mutual trust. This should be based primarily on systematic measures to address fears over loss of ownership and right to land, and concerns over denial of access to resources, development, and means of livelihood.

Paan Singh Tumour

The noose is finally tightening around the manufacturers of one of the most potent killer products in the world — chewable tobacco such as gutka and tobacco containing paan masala. A few States — Madhya Pradesh, Kerala, Bihar, Maharashtra and Rajasthan — have by the stroke of a pen banned the manufacture, storage, distribution and sale of such products. These substances may soon face the same fate in more States where the process of proscribing them has been initiated. Maharashtra has banned all paan masala brands (immaterial of the presence of tobacco) that contain magnesium carbonate above permissible levels. It is highly commendable that State governments have begun to crack down on this dangerous produce just months after the notification of the Food Safety and Standards (Prohibition and Restriction on Sales) Regulation, 2011. The FSS Act prohibits the presence of tobacco in food products. The industry, which successfully scuttled a ban by many States in 2004, is now in the dock. There is inviolable evidence of harm caused by chewing tobacco. A Lancet study published this year highlighted the scale of the problem in India and made a strong case for reducing the consumption of these substances. In 2010, chewing tobacco was responsible for about 20 per cent of the 120,000 tobacco-related cancer deaths. It killed twice the number of people as lung cancer, and was the leading cause of death in men in both urban and rural areas.

The FSS Act provides the much needed teeth for States to act against food items containing tobacco. Unfortunately, the Act has ignored betel nut (areca nut) — a well known carcinogen found in both gutka and paan masala. That the Union government failed to include it despite a voluminous and indisputable body of evidence clearly pointing out its carcinogenic effect is indeed shocking. The International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) of the World Health Organisation had in a 2008 monograph stated that “areca nut is carcinogenic to humans (Group I).” There is “sufficient evidence” of the carcinogenicity of betel quid [paan] with and without added tobacco, it noted. Even if eaten without added tobacco, paan causes cancers of the oral cavity and oesophagus; a “positive association” has also been found between exposure to betel quid and liver cancer. Hence banning these products based on the presence of betel nut will result in a sharp fall in oral cancer mortality. So what is preventing the Union government from acting? Betel nut is the “second most consumed” carcinogen after tobacco. But unlike tobacco, there is gross and widespread ignorance of its harmful effects. Hence, increasing awareness levels should be given equal priority.